At Most Schools, The `P' In Pep Stands For Pupils And Parents

October 08, 1999|By Mike Conklin, Tribune Staff Writer.

Every spring in Wilmette, one of the largest single fundraisers for a Chicago-area high school takes place at Loyola Academy. The event is called "The Ramble" and, through an auction, the school nets well into six figures each year -- without decimals -- for activities.

Items for sale have included rounds of golf with comedian Bill Murray and Michael Jordan, Neiman-Marcus shopping sprees, dinner with actor Chris O'Donnell and political and corporate internships for youth.

With the exception of one Loyola Academy staffer, the fundraiser is run every year entirely by hundreds of volunteer parents, according to high school rep Robin Hunt. This includes decorations, acquiring more than 600 auction items each year, and, of course, selling and purchasing tickets. "We couldn't do it without them," said Hunt.

The Loyola fundraiser is at the high end of that kind of effort, but take in almost any high school extracurricular activity and you'll likely find moms and dads just as busy in the front lines -- from chalking the field for a soccer game to sweeping up after a pep rally.

If students are the fuel that drives a school, a lot of parents keep very busy filling in the potholes to make the journey smoother.

When Dunbar Vocational in Chicago celebrates its homecoming in another week, principal Floyd Banks said, it will be his high school's booster club, which is made up of the students' parents, that will make the festivities a success.

They do it by helping organize the annual parade, putting up blue and gold decorations in hallways, and assisting with the dance -- necessary efforts that make the weekend event more meaningful for the students and alums.

"We do the whole nine yards and thank goodness for the parents," said Banks. "You want kids to have good experiences when they're in school, but these days in Chicago it's hard to get them enthused about anything."

Involvement by parents can manifest itself in several ways. Sometimes it is merely an exercise of the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) that exists at almost every school. You're just as likely to find parent-run athletic booster clubs at most high schools, where the labor, funds and materials they provide are both appreciated and necessary at a time many districts are tight for money.

At some larger high schools, the booster club is formally splintered into sub-groups for specific sports -- such as the Field Hockey Parents, Band Parents, Soccer Parents or PomPom Parents. Then, each smaller unit becomes responsible for putting in volunteer hours to earn a share of the umbrella group's general budget.

At Lyons Township High School in LaGrange, the Home School Council (its equivalent of PTO) and the booster club work jointly on many projects and recently raised $250,000 for lights for an athletic field.

"You want to enrich your kids' experience as much as you can," said Becky Eichstaedt, a past president of the Lyons booster organization. "It's also kind of a bonding thing, something you can share with them.

"When your kids are in grammar school, everything is smaller and it's easier to know what's going on," she added. "Then they go on to a larger high school, sometimes it's not as easy. This is a way of staying involved."

Jerry Turry, recently retired as athletic director at Niles West High School, noted that parental involvement can be relative to the success of a school's sports teams and the involvement of their own kids.

"It's a lot easier to get people enthused if they know they're going to see a good game of basketball or football," said Turry. "If a parent's kid is playing, they're really likely to come out and maybe even bring a friend. That's always great for school spirit.

"On the other hand, if a parent feels his or her kid didn't get a good deal from the coach, they may never buy into the program."

In the case of Carl Sandburg High School in Palos Park, it is easier to get parents involved in booster clubs for better-known sports such as football and basketball. But the funds they raise also are used for the lower-profile activities where sometimes it is more difficult to generate enthusiasm.

"Every year our booster club gives us $10,000 and I can count on that in my budget," said Len Motta, athletic director at Carl Sandburg. "If we feel there's something we really need during the school year, I can always go to them for help."

Mark McDonald, principal at Aurora West High School, said it is easier to get parents involved in activities when they are graduates of the schools their kids attend. The principal said this frequently happens at West, but in some districts, where households see more transition, it is not the case.

His school's homecoming parade is a communitywide attraction every autumn and, according to McDonald, it was a group of parents that got it started about 10 years ago.

"There are about 40 or 50 of them every year, lining up the VIP cars, helping build floats, things like that," he said. "I suspect a lot of it comes out of their own pockets. Without the parents, we couldn't do a lot of things."